SEMICON India 2026 Highlights Expansion of India’s Semiconductor Manufacturing Ecosystem

September 21, 2026

SEMICON India 2026, held at Yashobhoomi in New Delhi from September 17 to 19 and inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, concluded this week after bringing together more than 600 exhibitors, around 300 international companies, and participants from 52 countries. The event featured 56 MoUs, announcements and strategic initiatives spanning different parts of the semiconductor value chain.

The fifth edition of India’s flagship semiconductor conference was held under the theme “Silicon to Systems: Building the Ecosystem.” The theme reflected the broader direction of India’s semiconductor strategy, which is expanding beyond individual chip manufacturing projects toward a more integrated ecosystem covering chip design, fabrication, packaging, equipment, materials, and talent development.

What is SEMICON India 2026, and Why is It Important for India's Semiconductor Industry?

Organised by the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), in partnership with SEMI and industry associations, SEMICON India 2026 featured six Country Pavilions — Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Singapore, and Sweden — alongside 12 State Pavilions, a Startup Pavilion, a Workforce Development Zone, an Innovation Showcase, and a Student Hackathon.

A new "Sand to Silicon to Systems" Value Chain Experience showcased each stage of semiconductor production through a dedicated exhibition format. S. Krishnan, Secretary at MeitY, said the event was particularly significant this year for two reasons: the on-ground success of the Semicon India Programme, with five semiconductor units under Semicon 1.0 having commenced commercial production, and the announcement of Semicon 2.0, the programme's expanded next phase.

How is India's Semiconductor Manufacturing Ecosystem Expanding?

During the inauguration, Prime Minister Modi highlighted India's progression from policy discussion and project planning toward commercial semiconductor production, virtually inaugurating commercial production lines at CDIL Semiconductor in Mohali and Suchi Semicon in Surat, bringing the number of operational commercial units among the 12 projects approved under Semicon 1.0 to five. Ashok Chandak, President of SEMI India and IESA, described the event's theme as reflecting India's transition from attracting individual investments to enabling a fully integrated ecosystem.

That shift is the article's central point: rather than each new semiconductor announcement standing alone, India's policy and industry focus is increasingly on ensuring these facilities are supported by a domestic base of equipment suppliers, materials producers, design houses, and packaging and testing capability — the surrounding ecosystem that determines whether individual fabs and assembly plants can actually operate competitively over the long term.

What Parts of the Semiconductor Value Chain Are Being Developed in India?

SEMICON India 2026's exhibition floor deliberately spanned the full value chain rather than concentrating on chip fabrication alone — materials, equipment, chip design, fabrication, advanced packaging, electronics, and systems were all represented. On the design side, India is expanding chip-design capability through initiatives such as the Chips to Startup (C2S) Programme and Design Linked Incentive (DLI) Scheme. By SEMICON India 2026, industry-grade EDA tools had been extended to 400 engineering colleges and 105 start-ups, while around 70,000 design engineers had been trained over four years, strengthening India's domestic design and talent pipeline.

On the equipment and materials side, companies used the event to showcase India-developed technology directly relevant to Semicon 2.0's goals: L&T Semiconductor Technologies unveiled 40 products at the event, including its first Silicon Carbide platform and a fully designed-in-India BLDC motor controller, explicitly positioned around digital sovereignty and energy efficiency. Tata Electronics announced multiple MoUs during the event covering semiconductor manufacturing, materials supply, and infrastructure, reflecting how established manufacturers are also building out their supply-chain and infrastructure partnerships alongside core fabrication capacity.

How is Semicon 2.0 Supporting This Ecosystem Approach?

Semicon 2.0, approved by the Cabinet in July 2026 with an outlay of INR 1,27,500 crore (approximately USD 15 billion), is structured around six pillars: design of chips, machines and materials, setting up more fabs, further strengthening the ATMP/OSAT (Assembly, Testing, Marking and Packaging / Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test) industry, research and development, and talent development.

This structure broadens the semiconductor ecosystem approach established under Semicon 1.0. While Semicon 1.0, launched in 2021 with an outlay of INR 76,000 crore, concentrated mainly on establishing fabs and ATMP/OSAT capacity while also supporting semiconductor design, Semicon 2.0 expands the focus through dedicated pillars covering machines and materials, chip design, research and development, talent development, additional fabs, and further strengthening of the ATMP/OSAT industry. Together, these areas are intended to deepen capabilities across the semiconductor value chain and support the development of a more integrated domestic ecosystem.

Why Are Semiconductor Equipment, Materials and Packaging Capabilities Important for India's Ecosystem?

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, speaking at the event, emphasised that “no nation builds a chip alone,” highlighting how semiconductor manufacturing depends on interconnected capabilities across design software, specialised equipment, materials and manufacturing. This underscores why India's ecosystem strategy extends into equipment and materials rather than stopping at fabrication: domestic fabs and packaging facilities also require reliable access to specialised equipment, high-purity materials and design tools to operate effectively within the global semiconductor supply chain.

India has also joined the Pax Silica coalition, aimed at strengthening global silicon supply chains through international partnership rather than pursuing full self-sufficiency in isolation, a stance consistent with Misri's framing and with the international pavilions and partnerships that featured prominently across the event.

What Infrastructure is Required as Semiconductor Manufacturing Scales in India?

As India's semiconductor ecosystem expands across fabrication, packaging, equipment, and materials, the underlying infrastructure requirements scale accordingly. Semiconductor fabs and advanced packaging facilities require cleanroom environments engineered to exacting particulate and contamination-control standards, since even microscopic contamination can compromise wafer yields. These facilities depend on ultra-pure water systems for wafer processing, specialty gas supply chains for deposition and etching processes, and high-reliability power infrastructure capable of supporting continuous, precision-sensitive operations without interruption.

As materials and equipment manufacturing scale alongside fabrication and packaging, industrial utilities, site infrastructure and supply-chain logistics will become increasingly important. Developing stronger domestic and regional supplier networks can reduce selected supply-chain risks, shorten response times and strengthen coordination between semiconductor facilities and their supporting industries.

What Opportunities Does This Create for Manufacturers, Investors and Supporting Industries?

The ecosystem-wide expansion SEMICON India 2026 showcased points to opportunity extending well beyond the companies building fabs and packaging lines directly. The expansion creates potential opportunities beyond companies building fabs and packaging lines directly, including for equipment manufacturers, specialty chemical and gas suppliers, ultra-pure water treatment providers, and industrial construction and engineering firms capable of supporting semiconductor-grade facilities.

The 56 MoUs signed during the event, alongside the participation of major manufacturers such as Tata Electronics and technology providers such as L&T Semiconductor and Delta, which showcased AI-driven digital twins, semiconductor automation, and intelligent infrastructure at the event, signal that both established Indian industrial groups and global technology partners see near-term opportunity in supplying this expanding ecosystem, not only in operating the flagship fabs themselves.

SEMICON India 2026 brought together more than 600 exhibitors and featured 56 MoUs, announcements and strategic initiatives around a central idea: fabs and packaging plants alone do not constitute a complete semiconductor ecosystem. India's next phase will increasingly depend on building the equipment, materials, design, infrastructure and engineering capabilities required to support semiconductor manufacturing at scale.

IMARC Engineering’s Perspective

SEMICON India 2026's "Silicon to Systems" framing captures a genuinely important shift in India's semiconductor strategy, from securing individual fab and packaging investments toward building the equipment, materials, design, and infrastructure base that determines whether those facilities can actually run reliably and competitively over the long term.

At IMARC Engineering, we see this ecosystem-wide expansion as raising the engineering and infrastructure stakes considerably: cleanroom design, ultra-pure water and specialty gas systems, high-reliability power infrastructure, and precise site selection are foundational requirements not just for fabs, but increasingly for the equipment and materials manufacturers Semicon 2.0 is now targeting. We support manufacturers and investors evaluating semiconductor and semiconductor-adjacent facilities in India with feasibility studies, cleanroom and utility infrastructure design, site selection, and project execution suited to the exacting standards this industry requires.

As India works to convert SEMICON India 2026's ecosystem ambitions and Semicon 2.0's six-pillar framework into operating capacity, facility engineering, utility planning, supply-chain development and disciplined project execution will be critical to moving fabs, packaging lines and supporting facilities from investment announcements to commissioned operations.